電 is the traditional ("full") form. It means lightning or electricity. The upper part illustrates a rain cloud. Youy can see the rain drops falling. The lower part is more obscure. Interpretations include stretch, repeat, again and again, spread, awe-inspiring. Aren't lightnings awe-inspiring when they spread on a night heaven?

The mainland ("simplified") version is 电.

A similar simplification in the meteorology department is "cloud". The full cloud is 雲, the simplified one 云.

As opposed to their real works of scholarship, the kanji world is abound with folk etymologies often created with homelic intent. The oldest one as I remember now is that of 「公」 by 韓非子 (somewhere in 『五蠹』 or 『孤憤』). He argued that the upper part of the character (八) means individual or private (私) and the lower part against. According to his strict political science of strictures, private interests are always harmful to the public interests and thus should be suppressed at any cost. This suggests, in my view, his notion of public interest as belonging to nobody (or perhaps to the monarch only) in opposition to private interests belonging to you and me.

This 公/私 pair is a good contrast to the Occidental private/public, which is the interests of you and me versus those of everybody's.